I used to say 'let it go' a lot. Way before that ear worm song from the Disney movie. Saying 'let it go' as advice to friends and family when I salvage stuff is a bit ironic. I have not engaged on a 12 step program (yet). I am trying to move a bit a product faster, though. I have connected my love of two things, old hand tools and salvaged wood, into a series of pieces I am calling Tool Time, until I come up with something that sounds better. The pieces of wood are leftovers from other projects: Kitchen renos, feature walls, furniture. I have either found the tools, or the tools have found me. "Hammer will like this hammer. It is his nickname, after all." I like a few things about them:
- With a quick snip from some pliers, and a little scrub with steel wool, these tools are good to go. When Global Economic Collapse hits, and you have a couple of these up on the wall, you are ready. I imagine there's someone like me down in Texas doing the same thing with rifles and corroguated tin. - I have offcuts of plywood that I attach these to, so it's a case of making up a little puzzle of wood that goes together and connects to the wood on the handles. - the next series will include some instructions drawn either on the piece, or for a gallery card beside it. When I was working on these at an event recently, half the people looked at them with fondness saying, "Oh that one is just like my grandpa's", while others looked at them like they were as old as stuff coming out of the crypt in Egypt. I suppose I could develop an app for that . . . Next in line is a series of pieces that focus on kitchen tools. Yes, I have a box of those, too. Getting ready to let them go!
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Funny how 'art' just looks better on a white wall with good lighting and fancy hangers. Art galleries may have something going with that vibe. This is one of mine, Morkrap Shipping 2, acrylic on salvaged wood. When I walk the dog up Mt. Tolmie, I can usually see a couple container ships working their way to Vancouver, with the Olympic Mountains as a backdrop. Yes, I do like to use the pallets in those containers, but do we really need all that plastic crap on top of the pallets? This piece is currently at the Cedar Hill Recreation Centre in Saanich, BC in a show highlighting upcoming studio tours around Saanich. I am one of the artists on upcoming Mt. Tommie Artist Tour, May 2 & 3. It's a great opportunity to see what some of your neighbours are up to, and for me, yet another reason to clean up the workshop/studio! I will have some new work and in progress art pieces to see, as well as some up-cycled furniture to look at. If you are so inclined, I will be offering it up for sale, and might have some salvaged material I can be convinced to part with for your up-cycling projects!
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AuthorAndrew MacDonald is the owner/operator of all things Hammer & Tidy. Archives
January 2017
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